TROUBLING GENDER: BODIES, SUBVERSION, AND THE MEDIATION OF DISCOURSE IN ATWOOD'S THE EDIBLE WOMAN

by Fleitz, Elizabeth J

Abstract (Summary)

This study focuses on the role of the body as a central factor in subverting gender norms. Hypothesizing a model based in Judith Butler’s work on sex and gender performance that places the body in an integral position as mediator of discourse and creator of identity, I posit that bodily disruptions occur when the body re-cites patriarchal discursive assumptions of gender in such a way as to emphasize the constructedness of gender identity. By looking at the body as a type of subversive space, I uncover the hidden methods texts use to undercut gender norms. Using Margaret Atwood’s The Edible Woman, I apply this theory to analyze the ways the body is able to re-cite discourse to question the stability of gender identity. I explore the ways the text plays with the construction of gender through the use of bodies.